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Press Release: Roman Refuses Campaign Contributions

Chrisman, IL (February 21, 2012) Rob Roman, candidate for State Representative in the new 102nd District, has listened to the voters and has instituted his own campaign reform.

At a recent candidate forum in Douglas County, Roman stated that he will not seek, nor will he accept, any campaign contributions or endorsements that come from profit motive groups or special interest political action committees.

Roman stated, “Since I am not a career politician, I at first thought that I should fill out all the questionnaires that were filling my mailbox and seek out endorsements and campaign contributions. I even went to an interview for one of the groups in Chicago. I quickly learned that they were looking for the candidate that would ‘support their platform’, which just didn’t feel right to me”.

After many years of interest in local and national politics, Roman saw that the groups with the most campaign contributions were impacting the government process. Roman said that he believes the job of elected officials is to represent the people of the district in which they are elected, and to consider all companies and groups in a manner that considers the impact on the communities that the official represents.

“There are some groups in which I strongly identify with, such as Right to Life, Homeschoolers, and the National Rifle Association, and their endorsements would probably be very fitting”, Roman said. “But, what is the message that the campaign contributions and endorsements send to the voters? It seems that many people believe that the message is that an official is ‘owned’. I don’t want to owe anybody, or any group, except the people of the district”.

Roman noted that his research of current candidates show endorsements from directly opposing special interest groups, ones that strongly disagree on basic issues. “How can you support opposing groups at the same time?” asked Roman.

Roman indicated that he has received many endorsements and contributions, but noted that they are from respected members of the communities within the district. “There are many local elected officials, successful business people, and community volunteers who have written letters of endorsement for my campaign and have provided financial support. I am very proud to have the endorsement of people who know me and my values, and who voters can see at the grocery store and ask them their real opinions on my candidacy. Real people make for real endorsements, not faceless entities that a local voter cannot talk to and get the real story. I don’t need a law passed to do the right thing”.